CHANDIGARH: After raising the issue of non-compliance of 60:40 quota system in place for filling vacancies in the UT administration from Punjab and Haryana at TOI’s summit It’s Chandigarh’s Time, Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday wrote to home minister Rajnath Singh seeking cadre protection.The issue was discussed in detail at the TOI event held on July 10, which was attended UT administrator V P Singh Badnore, Capt Amarinder, his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar and Pramod Kumar, a social scientist.While responding to the concern raised by Capt Amarinder, Badnore had assured that he will would an audit conducted to find out in which department the division of 60:40 ratio is not being followed.After the division of Punjab, Chandigarh was made a UT under Section 4 of the Punjab Re-Organisation Act, 1966, with effect from November 1, 1966. Since then, the administration has been functioning directly under the ministry of home affairs (MHA). The administration is managed by officers from Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram Union Territories (AGMUT), Punjab and Haryana cadres, who report to the UT administrator.According to norms, 60% bureaucrats, police officers and officials of other departments in Chandigarh have to come from Punjab and 40% from Haryana.Capt Amarinder sought intervention of the home minister to ensure that the prescribed ratio of filling vacant posts in the administration between the states of Punjab and Haryana is not disturbed.The letter sent to the home minister reads: “Unfortunately, during the past few years, it has been observed that there is a constant effort to disturb this fine balance achieved after a great deal of effort. The ministry of home affairs has been inducting more officers of UT cadre and other UTs into administration without realising implications of such avoidable decisions. There has been reduction in departments allocated to officers of Punjab and Haryana as also increase in number of UT cadre officers in Chandigarh.”Capt Amarinder also asked the home minister not to curtail the role and responsibilities of the officers of Haryana and Punjab, as assigned to them in a pre-determined ratio of share. He further sought restoration of the role of SSP, Chandigarh, as head of the district police as earlier.Capt Amarinder also expressed displeasure over UT curtailing power of senior superintendent of police, who is an IPS officer of Punjab cadre. UT SSP earlier was handling law and order and crime, while the responsibility of crime has been taken away.The chief minister also urged the home minister to resolve the pending territorial dispute and restore Chandigarh to Punjab, being its legitimate original capital.

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